Sony drops the UX280P, with twice the RAM and HDD

After mysteriously pulling all mentions of the UX180P from their online store a week or so ago -- they claimed they were merely out of stock -- Sony is back with the UX280P, which doubles both the RAM and the HDD size from that of the UX180P. Along with the new 40GB hard drive and 1GB of RAM, we hope they found some time to refresh that debilitating software we encountered in our hands-on preview of the 180. The processor remains the same ol' Core Solo U1200, and there's still EDGE, WiFi and Bluetooth radios. Unfortunately, the price has now reached the $2000 mark, so you best have cash to burn or a real good excuse for some UMPC+QWERTY action, or you're just going to look silly.

[Via jkOnTheRun]

[Gio - NYC @ Sep 5th 2006 11:45AM]

Honestly ive never seen anyone using these in the NYC Metro Area. Most Companies use Blackberrys.

[Zadillo @ Sep 5th 2006 11:56AM]

Honestly, the technology is awesome, but I can't ever see myself buying one of these. I played around with it at the SonyStyle store, and I will say that the screen is impressively crisp and bright; but at the same time it is also really hard to read text, etc. (you have to really hold it pretty close to your face to read anything). There is a nice "zooming" mode which makes it a lot easier, but you have to of course move around the screen to see everything (I do like that it has a nice little on-screen navigator so you can easily jump around to various parts of the screen).

I think my only other problem with this is the keyboard; the keys are all flush with the case, and I found them to be incredibly difficult to type with. I mean, my Treo is easier to type with and the keys are much smaller. I guess maybe it has to work this way because the screen slides down on top of the keyboard, but still, it seems like the keyboard is only useful for small amounts of typing; which sort of defeats the purpose in my mind of being able to have the full MS Word on a device of this size.

Definitely interesting, and as an incredibly tiny device that runs the full XP, it is pretty cool. But I just don't know how practical it is.

[Lisa @ Sep 5th 2006 12:08PM]

The RAM was doubled but the HD was not. The 180P has a 30 gig HD and the 280P has a 40 gig HD.

[M @ Sep 5th 2006 12:13PM]

I want one, but at this price, I would rather get a Samsung Q1. They are both small, but the Q1 has a larger screen and is cheaper by almost half? Sad that both of these are about 5 times the size of an ipod, which has 3 times as much HDD room. Interesting. I guess I rather get the new Archos which is looking very interesting.

[unimog @ Sep 5th 2006 12:25PM]

"to drop" usually means "to discontinue" when talking about about a product.

http://www.answers.com/drop&r=67

But I guess not in engadget bongland / white-guys-pretending-to-be-black-land

[Bweetza @ Sep 5th 2006 12:29PM]

I've had one for about two months now (UX-180) and I could not say enough good things about it. It's very functional and actually fairly quick with it's processing. I honestly thought it would be a dog with all of the features it has packed into it but I was happily surprised. The downside to it (or anything Sony) is that accessories are priced way out of line. An extra power cord will run you 90 bucks.

[RyanV @ Sep 5th 2006 12:37PM]

i just dont see the point. I'd rather spend the 2k on a nice Smart Phone and all the accessories and still have enough for one of those 'special' massages they give in china town.

[ethan @ Nov 3rd 2006 3:07PM]

1) have you seen a phone run windows xp?

2) find a new friday night hobby.

[Bryan @ Sep 5th 2006 1:04PM]

I played with one at the Sony Store. I want something like this badly so I don't have to lug my laptop around all the time but there are just too many compromises. Text is just too hard to read (and I have 20/20 eyesight) and the keyboard too difficult to type long emails or program with.

For something this small to function as a full-fledged laptop replacement, I guess we have to wait for a flexible screen and some kind of expanding keyboard.

http://www.qwuiki.com

[david lewandowski @ Sep 5th 2006 1:15PM]

Gee now I can finally get rid of my Sony Mylo.

[teo @ Sep 5th 2006 1:16PM]

UNIMOG,
read your own link further under marketing, because this blog obviously does heavy marketing for these companies.

"Marketing
drop
Direct marketing: direct-mail promotion entering the direct-mail system; also called mail date. The drop date is usually planned to coincide with a buying season such as Christmas that has produced good results on prior mailings.
"

[ramond @ Sep 5th 2006 2:41PM]

When I saw "drop" in the title of this article I also thought it meant Sony have discontinued it. Which made sense to me since I don't understand why anyone would want one. I was actually suprised it didnt mean that.

[Dr. Nick @ Sep 5th 2006 2:55PM]

There is a pair of technologies to be considered when determining the usefulness and allround worth of a PC.
First, Bluetooth. You've got your music playing thru your bluetooth headset, only interupted by incoming calls on your cell. Second, Wi-Fi. You have a portable VoiP phone, and a hell of a slick wardriving machine. Lookin to kill some time? Bust open that qwerty and load them roms! (I mean really, who needs a PSP or Gameboy?) Finally, for those with webcams, live video blogging goes anywhere.

[Mike @ Sep 5th 2006 6:03PM]

WOW, thanks sony from all the people that spent 1800+shipping on the first model which hasn't even been out that long >.> I knew this would happen

[Trey @ Sep 5th 2006 6:14PM]

Duh you've never seen anyone use them... They just came out?

[KultiVator @ Sep 5th 2006 6:57PM]

Sony seem to be following the mistakes they made with the Clie line of handhelds - in churning the product generations far too quickly, p*ssing off their early-adopters and charging wacko-land prices for accessories.

Give the product (or family of products) a reasonable life-span / shelf-life and they might help nurture some customer loyalty - instead of hacking off every single owner of the UX180P.

Doh!


KultiVator

[Shmee150 @ Sep 5th 2006 7:30PM]

I bouught a ux180p on my holiday to the states 3 weeks ago now, knowing it was going to be replaced as every sony laptop i've been through has within weeks.

It is the most amazing piece of kit I have ever owned - I constantly have it out while I am travelling on the tube or train or when sitting in restaurants, and the number of times I have been asked about it now, never receiving anything but amazement, is beyond being countable!

Not only is it amazingly useful to just pop out and have access to files which I have synched to my desktop but it plays videos and music as well, extremely well!

I am sorry to see that I now have an old model, wasn't exactly what I wanted so soon, but when you buy a Sony you come to expect it, and it will still be a few weeks before it's out.

My plan is to change it when either something is majorly upgraded such as a body remake, much more than slight upgrades to the spec. Even if they still sell in parallel, the extra 200$ for a 10GB hard drive upgrade and 512mb ram isn't really worth it unless money is literally no issue.

But why Sony have to do this to those of us with UX180Ps I don't know, but probably to do with knowing we're suckers for the latest and greatest so will upgrade sometime. As said, they really should care more for their other customers.

ShMeE

[cobalt @ Sep 5th 2006 8:15PM]

I am probably not alone in finding that I often like Sony's products, especially the design elements, but the company itself is so screwed up that overall I've avoided buying their products for years.

This situation is a little reminiscent of the PSP situation, as well as the Clie situation. In this case, they were probably watching the early adopters immediately talk about or actually upgrade the HD and RAM, and so they went ahead and did it themselves. Why this deserves a +100 on their model number, who knows. So rather than getting accused of making an expensive, under-spec'ed device, they pull the original and release an even more expensive, better-spec'ed device.

Sony probably noticed that people were very excited about the high end features (size, built in keyboard, WWAN, DMB, and flash hard drive) despite the high price, and went after the high-end market. It's probably a smart move, but it's irritating to see a company build hardware that is inherently user-upgradeable or hackable and then constantly seek to wrest control away from their own consumer base at the same time.

Sony, give in. Stop struggling. It will make you feel good. Really good.

[Galley @ Sep 6th 2006 10:43AM]

WTF? They dropped it already? They just started selling it two hours ago! (I guess it wasn't very popular).

[schalliol @ Sep 8th 2006 1:28PM]

We have five 180s, and they're great for corporate mobile applications where a BlackBerry won't cut it.

[Dimitrios Kritsotakis @ Sep 17th 2006 2:23AM]

i buy, renovate, and sell properties for a living, and for the longest time i have been thinking of integrating home automation via computer with touch screens in one of my properties as a test. with the thought in mind that the property is worth more if the home is smart. i have been working on a solution to make it completely seamless. it's been difficult trying to find things that will all work together. i've had the vaio ux280p on my mind as the center control for the house. anyone have any ideas or suggestions? i want to control lighting, cameras, security, door and window locks, blinds, minor appliances, home theater, audio, even tempurature control. will the ux280p be enough processing power to handle all that? could it at least be used as a center control for the house maybe linked to a more powerful pc hidden away with all the hd space i want, and have it running kind of like a remote desktop? also what about media center? will i be able to control audio and movies anywhere in the house from room to room with this device? it has been the most promising yet for the needs i have to automate my test home. would appreciate any ideas or input or anything new out there that might help.

[steve @ May 7th 2007 6:12AM]

Get the samsung NP_Q1 its cheaper and has a 7in screen and the touch screen works great! im using mine to control my HT and lighting with usb ir unit and remote control software. and the built in stand is perfect for table top also. and you can load mp3s and use the q1 as a music center in you Ht . I had the sony and it was a very good unit but for what i needed it was just to busy for me and the q1 just looks sleeker in my HT room. the sony just has to many buttons and the sceen is hard to see text on for me. just my 2cents hope I help.

[Brad Battey sr. @ Sep 17th 2006 3:28PM]

considering one for long-distance bicycle touring for use with GPS bike computer (Garmin Edge) and G-maps. Glad to see 280P with 1 Gb, but wonder about upgrading to bigger, faster drive and warranty implications

[robkin @ Sep 22nd 2006 7:04PM]

Bought my ux180p a week ago. Now I see it's discontinued. Not really discontinued but upgraded. The ux180p is unbelievably fast on the web and displays brilliant graphics as you browse. At least the 180p is not as expensive as the upgraded model so I will just keep mine. I am just glad I bought it before the price went up. The hard drive on the ux180p was not large enough because of all the trial software Sony had put on it. I tried to delete some of the software (Norton Security Suite and Microsoft Office because I don't use them) and it messed my computer up because it was integrated into the Windows operating system so I had to take it to the place where I bought it and they restored the hard drive. If you buy the UX280 be careful not to delete any of the trial software programs before reading up on the how to section on Sony's support site.

[ArchiMark @ Oct 21st 2006 10:29PM]

I've had my UX90S (build to order Japanese market model..) with English keyboard and WinXP Pro for a month now and really love this 'little guy'...

Great having a full WinXP device that you take anywhere and hardly notice that you're carrying it with you...

After just a little use, I found that the keyboard actually works quite well and is easy to use.

Upgraded the HD to 60GB...so good to go....although toying with selling mine to get a 280P, but not sure...might just keep this one...

;-)

[alexnext @ Nov 5th 2006 9:01AM]

I Exchanged my VGN-UX280 for the VGN-UX90S because of the speed problems of the VGN-UX280 and did not know that there where no compact flash cards available in the USA for data services and or voice services that work on the 3g and Edge network. A UMPC is almost useless unless it can connect to the internet at a reasonable speed.

The fastest CF card available in the USA, that is unlocked, and where you can put in a sim card from any provider, can be found at a company called enfora: https://www.enfora.com/shop/detail.aspx?ID=40. however, forget about fast speed, Edge, and 3g. The fastest this puppy will go is just a little faster then a Class 10 GPRS modem which runs at approximately 32-48 kbps download, which is slower then your old 56k modem. In addition to this, if you want to use voice services on it you need to have an annoying head phone attachment, no blue tooth capability or hardware in the unit for your UMPC to recognize sound. It does run on the 850, 900, 1800, 1900 networks though, so you can pretty much use any cell phone provider.

The only site I found anything close to what is needed is from Vodafone however that works in the UK, and don�t know if it can work in the USA. In addition to that there are a few USB solutions but also require cables and are big and clunky, and I feel they defeat the purpose of a UMPC.

I am very disappointed in Sony for not providing its US customers with some useful upgrade information for the VGN-UX90S and am returning my UX-90S. Sony USA was also unable to even provide me with a working phone number for there US support in Japan. I talked to at least three people at Sony USA and they all gave me the same number , of course without the country code.


So far http://www.dynamism.com/ where I purchased the unit, was also unable to find a solution. I am shore that there�s got to be a solution out there some where, probably in Japan. If anyone knows what it is please let me know, and I will then re-purchase the UX-90S. Also a working phone number for Sony Japan would be nice. Until then the UX-90S is a nice toy, and that is about it.

[gadjitfreek @ Jan 1st 2007 9:27AM]

Nice unit. I want a Flipstart. Clamshell or bust!